Saving money doesn’t have to be a boring chore, but it does involve tweaking your lifestyle a bit. If you find yourself staring dumbfounded at your monthly credit card bill wondering how in the world the balance got so high, it’s time to assess your spending habits. Daily expenses add up quick and turn your…
There are a few posts I’m particularly proud of just because of how practical and useful they are. They’re either full of hard earned knowledge on my part or they are crazy experiments that actually worked and saved me money. In no particular order, here are 10 of the most useful (and some of the most…
Finding the best deal on whatever you are looking for has become infinitely easier with the advent of smartphone apps that allow instant comparison shopping, and buyers’ clubs that offer discounts with membership. You can, however, realize ever greater savings when you know the best time of day, week or year to shop. Whether you…
Believe it or not, there are people out there who treat finding deals and coupons as a competitive sport. Indeed, many feel a certain high and sense of satisfaction when they find deep discounts or score an unexpected free shipping deal when buying things online. After all, who does not like saving money? Honey Takes…
On Monday I wrote about the bridesmaid budget I set for my best friend’s wedding. To stay within that budget and maximize my final wedding gift amount, I used a few frugal tricks. The Dress David’s Bridal is pretty popular for a reason and if your bride picks a dress from one of their lines,…
This weekend one of my best friend’s from high school got married and I was one of her bridesmaids. It was an amazing event. She had possibly the most perfect wedding I have ever attended. She was absolutely stunning and glowing with love all day. The venue was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. Seriously, it…
Guys, being nearly blind can get expensive. I’m usually all about the contacts (you can check out my latest contact lens faves over here), but recently a tragedy happened. I dropped my laptop on my face while I was wearing my glasses. Yeah, you read that right. It was as classy as you’re imagining. I’ve…
It’s not uncommon to hear about the cost of Hamilton tickets in the news these days. Leading up to Lin–Manuel Miranda’s last performance, tickets were showing up on StubHub for $20,000 a piece and the cheapest tickets available on that site was $1,350. Now that the original cast has departed, ticket prices should drop to…
I kind of love freebies. I’ve definitely gone through periods of my life where I seem to enroll in just about everything to get them and it’s never so obvious to me that I may have taken my obsession a little far as in July. Last week, a bunch of emails started showing up in…
So can I just ramble a little bit about an obsession that’s been on my mind a little too much lately. Tiny homes. I love tiny homes. As a matter of fact, there is one tiny home in the city I grew up in and I’ve always wanted to live in it. Like – five…
You want the maximum amount for your home, but you don’t know where to start. Well, you’re not alone. Here’s what savvy homeowners do to prepare for an appraisal. Clean Your Home You might like the “lived in” look, but it’s not what sells. If your house is on the market, a bright and shiny…
One of the best pieces of personal finance advice I’ve ever gotten was: Pay Yourself First. Like so many general personal finance rules, it’s super easy to fight against this idea. Shouldn’t you pay off debts first? Shouldn’t you pay off your credit card balance? You can take this rule to the extreme and always…
“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” Larry Bird I’ve actually got a theory of my own – if you nail a goal 80-90% of the time life is going to be smooth sailing to that goal. Cleanses are pretty…
Let me level with you here, I’m a sucker for free samples. The minimalist in me is not a fan of this habit, but I get a crazy little rush every time a new box of them arrives on my doorstep and I’ve been a loyal Influenster for years. The thing is though, there are…
Father’s Day is coming up in about two weeks. I know one lesson my dad taught me was to never pay full price. My dad honestly makes frugality an art form at times and I feel pretty lucky that I naturally try to gravitate towards that too. That being said, I know the best way…
Apps are good for more than the occasional game of Candy Crush. They can be used to manage your finances and can even help you make some money. Here are my favorite apps of the week. Manage your Money Mint. When it comes to managing a budget, I feel like I have tried every trick…
Finding out that you are going to have a baby is exciting. You want to start planning as soon as possible so that everything is in order when the baby arrives. In the first trimester, you’ll still have the energy to arrange the room, paint and get everything organized. During this time, your clothing for the…
Yesterday as I was walking 20 blocks to Penn Station after work, I had some time to think. You see, I wasn’t on a tight schedule after work, it was a nice day and I figured, why spend $2.50 if I don’t have to on the subway back? My travel stipend for this job just…
I’m kind of a control freak. When things start spinning a little out of control in my life, I like to find what I can control within the situation and do something about it. I think this is why I jumped right on the frugality bandwagon back when I was paying off my student loans.…
Personal finance just boils down to consciously realizing you’re playing a game of “this or that.” Getting ahead is realizing you’ve always been playing this game, whether you realized it or not, and it’s probably time to start picking a fair bit of that (unless you’ve always just loved saving, then maybe it is time…
**Disclaimer: Literally all of this post is TMI. Some few real life friends read this blog – proceed with caution. Some few real life male friends read this blog – honest to god, just stop reading right now.** I have been fascinated with THINX underwear since I saw the first ad. Fascinated, repulsed, intrigued, horrified…
There aren’t too many things I’m emotionally attached to, but my car is definitely one of them. Mona. AKA – the Speed De”Mona” …because maybe I have a few speeding tickets in my past. Here’s the deal, Mona and I have been through a lot together. Mona was an early graduation gift from grad school.…
For me, cars are a major frugal skill fail. I seriously felt like a rock star last week when I figured out how to put windshield washer fluid into our 15 passenger van. One area that always makes me hesitate is all those recommendations they give you at Jiffy Lube when you get your oil…
I’m kind of a Groupon freak. With all the traveling I do, pretty much any time I have a day off in a new city, I hit up Groupon to see what cool things to do and neat places to eat are nearby (and discounted!). I also really love coupons. My mom works in the…
Have you ever owned something that you wanted to set on fire or beat with a tire iron only to find that once you got rid of it, you’d actually learned a lot? For me, that was my first car. I called her Monster. For a reason. I learned you get what you pay for.…